Accidentally in Love (NaNoWriMo 2013)
by AtlantianLights
Summary: In a world where Sasuke's parents were never murdered and his brother never had to join the Akatsuki, Sasuke finds himself facing a normal childhood. Spending his summers in the coastal town of Sakyū-jō, Sasuke grows up among shinobi, doctors, and a charming civilian girl who might just steal his heart with her kindness, ingenuity, and the way she views their messed-up world.
1. 01 Comfort

The sound of the waves lapping at the shore is ridiculously soothing to her frazzled nerves. It had been a long night and she would be quite content to make this moment last forever. His chest is her backrest, and his strong shoulder her pillow. She sighs softly, stroking the back of his palm with feather-soft fingertips. She closes her eyes and breathes deeply, the salty air filling her lungs and rejuvenating her.  
That morning she had been in the garden. The sun was rising over the wall in rays of spun gold and blood red. The leaves made dappled shadows along the ground, swaying gently in the breeze that swirled through the treetops from the ocean. Everything was quiet in that way that occurs only in the most sincere moments, and she closed her eyes, enjoying it all for just a moment. The soft, cool soil felt wonderful as she dug her toes into it, and her hand slowly relaxed, releasing the trowel she had been using mere minutes ago. She stayed that way a long while, just soaking in the silence.  
One could have heard a pin drop in that peaceful moment. However, the sound that shattered it was much louder and a shock to her ears. The cry of a wounded animal tore through the silence. It was a knife cutting through butter. She stiffened, her eyes flying open as the quiet that followed the sound pushed through. One heartbeat, and then two. Then it came again and her ears pinpointed the general direction of the sound. She pushed to her feet, trowel and strawberries forgotten as she made her way through the brush. It was close, and so she stepped carefully, watching where her feet landed in the shrubbery. The sound came again, and then she was pushing through a hedge into a little clearing.  
In the middle was an old oak, standing tall against the bright dawn sky. Her eyes searched the ground, listening closely for anything else. A cloying smell hung in the air, and it sent a shiver down her spine. She couldn't see much of anything out of the ordinary, but she still looked and listened as hard as she could. There was a soft rustle from the base of the tree, among the roots that tangled and rose above the mossy ground. She made her way carefully forward, trying not to be loud or disturb the animal, whatever it was. What she found made her cry out in shock and disgust.  
The body of a vixen lay in the entrance of a burrow. She looked healthy, but she was definitely dead. Her eyes were glassed over and she was stiff as the girl drug her away from the burrow entrance. Locked in her jaws, hanging limply, was the body of a dead rattlesnake. A shout rose in her throat at the sight of it, and she kept her distance until she realized that the reptile was also deceased. The mother fox must have tried to catch it for something to eat and gotten poisoned in the process. She pulled the two away from the burrow as more crying sounds came from within. The mother must have kits, which would mean they were trapped down there without their mother to care for them.  
Without a second thought, she got on her hands and knees to dig in the burrow. There were nasty things about, things that could make her scream, but she paid them no mind as she pushed into the soft earth. Her arms were not long enough, though. She could not reach the babies, try as she might. The burrow was too deep, and despite her small size, the girl could not go under the ground after the kits. Panting heavily and brushing the dry earth off of her arms, she thought frantically of what to do. From the sound of it, they could only be a few days old, which meant that they would need milk, and soon. Her parents would tell her to leave them; they had no milk for the kits and so they would only die either way. She could never do that though. She could not dig them out. Fetching a good shovel would take too long, her trowel was not big enough, and even if she could, in the time it took to locate them and start digging, they might die. Not to mention that if the tunnel collapsed they would drown in dirt.  
No, there was but one solution to this problem, and she knew there would be consequences later. Despite that, the sixteen year old's body straightened with nothing short of determination as she set to work. She closed her eyes as she pressed her palms to the earth and concentrated, feeling the familiar pang deep in her gut. It was this strange pulling feeling, like deep within herself there was a game of tug-o'-war going on between herself and her "chakra." She managed to win for the umpteenth time, feeling an abrupt jerk inside herself as everything seemingly fell into place. Then came the rumbling beneath the ground as things burst into being. Seeds were formed out of seemingly random minerals from the ground and found their shape, molded by invisible hands of power that formed them and gave them life. They sprouted and grew in mere seconds, erupting from the soil like coiling tentacles of green, bursting forth and rushing down the deep burrow at her command. Her blue eyes watched as they disappeared into the darkness. Then she closed her eyes and waited, feeling her way along with the vines that became an extension of her being. She fumbled for the kits in the dark, but found them easily enough after a moment's hesitation. The vines were as gentle as possible as they wrapped around the newborns, lifting each up and slowly transporting it up through the narrow and dark tunnels.  
When all was said and done, and she had released the kits onto the sun-dappled, mossy ground in front of her, there were three. They mewled pitifully and stumbled blindly, eyes closed tightly against the sun that threatened to rise over the high wall. She opened her eyes, vision blurring slightly for a moment as she looked down at them. Then it cleared and she saw them for what they were. Three brown balls of fur were promptly scooped up and inspected, checking for injuries. They all seemed to be fine, but they mewled pitifully, tiny mouths opening and closing. It nearly broke her heart. There was nothing she could do for the mother then except push her back into her burrow, where hopefully nothing would find her until she could report the vixen's death to her mother and father. Her prey she left firmly clamped in her jaws, as she had found it. Her parents would come out and dispose of the bodies. For the moment, the girl decided she had best see to the kits. She pulled her pullover off, exposing her pale, thin arms to the chill morning as she put it on the ground, gathering the three tiny kits up in it.  
The walk back to the gate was intensely long with the crying kits in her arms and the silent garden around her. Every animal had gone completely quiet at the sound of them, as though there was something inherently wrong with the sound of distressed babies. She had been a good mile into the enormous garden that was more like a privately owned set of gardens, and she carefully picked her way over roots and limbs alike as she followed the wall back to the gate. It was two hours past dawn when she finally reached them, and she offered a short wave to the cousin manning the tower. He stared down at her and the kits in her arms incredulously, but opened the gate for the young heiress despite this.  
The short walk down the boardwalk that trailed over the sand seemed to take entirely too long. Every second that passed was another one closer to the kits in her arms dying and she worried relentlessly. Soon though, her parents' house came into view, and her steps quickened though she had not thought it possible to go any faster. She reached the house with gasping breaths, wind-blown and breathless. Her foot fumbled with the shoji screen doors before they slid open, and she carefully stepped over the threshold; she had tripped on it more times than she cared to think about. Then she was slipping through the cool rooms in her house, thinking frantically on where she needed to go, what she needed to do to keep them alive. She was so preoccupied with this that she failed to see her father slipping out of one of the empty guest rooms where they sometimes housed patients.  
Practiced hands steadied her carefully. Her blue eyes followed the white lab coat up till she came upon pursed lips, which immediately cast her eyes downward to the floor.  
"Hello, Daddy..."  
Her father said nothing for a long moment, followed by a heavy sigh. The kits were mewling in her arms and the sound echoed in the hallway, too loud even to her own ears. Her father's hands left her shoulders and one cupped her chin, gently guiding her eyes up to his. Where hers were a lovely blue, his were a brilliant forest green dotted with molten gold. They were the eyes that drew the truth from her in stuttering apologies every single time.  
"Ah... I mean-... Well, I was in the garden this morning... and um, I heard noises... Like, pained noises. So I went to investigate, and the vixen was dead. She had tried to kill a rattlesnake, and while she succeeded... It um, poisoned her in the process... So like, I couldn't just leave the kits, Daddy! I could hear them crying and I just couldn't, okay?  
She stuttered and rambled along with her speech and it all spilled out. Her father's lips curled into a smile as she built up her passionate, fiery little end.  
"I can see that. How do you expect to feed these kits, Rinako? We don't have fox milk."  
This gave her pause. She had considered it briefly, but was more concerned with getting them to safety. She came up with something quickly enough. "I was thinking about goat milk, or maybe a puppy milk replacement formula. I'll have to check with the local veterinarian."  
He nodded afterwords, one hand cupping his chin and stroking it in such a classic fatherly way that she could not help but to laugh. He gave her a nonplussed look and she stretched to her toes, to which he bent over for her to kiss his cheek before she danced around him in the hallway. "I have to get them somewhere warm and safe before I can worry about that. There are some old cardboard boxes in the store room, right? Do you think Mom would care if I took one and filled it with hay?"  
He watched her go, shaking his head. "She might not. I'd try to find her eventually and tell her what you're up to, Kiddo."  
She waved him off. "I will, Daddy, I will."  
Then she disappeared down the curve in the long hallway, a bounce in her step. She had passed the first test, which was her father. Next came her mother. Hopefully that was something she would not have to worry about today, as it looked as though her mother was out doing house calls with her medicinal remedies. The storage room loomed up on her right, and she shouldered past the half-open shoji screen door. The kits, helplessly asleep in her arms, had stopped their mewling for the time being. They were still newborns and didn't move much, which was a relief. Their mother must have been young and inexperienced to allow herself to die with a bunch of kits back in her burrow. Cardboard boxes full of medicinal supplies lined the walls and a few empty boxes sat stacked in the corner in case they needed them. Well, she needed it and she planned to use it. Setting the kits gingerly on the hardwood floor, she set to work with the box.  
It needed to be warm. She knew that, and that was where the hay would come in. Her mother would kill her if she used one of their blankets, so instead, some of the hay that they kept for her mother's wild assortment of animals would come in handy. The kits would be kept in her room. She knew that already and she also knew that she would have to feed them pretty regularly. She would need to consult her mother and the veterinarian.  
She did not notice the sound of footsteps in the hallway nor did she notice the screen door opening and closing again, so intent was she on her work. Only when strong, pale hands joined her in packing the hay into the box in a warm, fluffy nest did she look up and meet onyx eyes and hair and that secret, smug smile that said he knew that he had caught her off guard. She blew air into his face with a grin and continued in her work. The thing about Sasuke was that he did not ask too many questions until the right time. He did not ask about the kits or the box or how she had even found them. He just effortlessly started helping her, saving the questions for when she could answer them. With his capable hands they finished the box in no time, placing the kits in their safe home and digging little holes out of the hay for them to burrow up in and keep warm. They mewled softly, surprised at being awoken and most likely hungry.  
As she rose and tried to take the box in hand, he stopped her, pulling the box up and into his arms. He was wearing a simple gray t-shirt and jeans, and it looked like he needed a haircut by now. She would have to remember to ask her mother. Her best friend was much taller than her, standing at 5'7" compared to her 5'2". He smiled down at her warily, narrowing his dark eyes at her as she pouted slightly, her burden that she would have gladly borne taken away from her.  
"Where to, Rinako-hime?"  
The old nickname still made her blush, a reminder of a long-ago game of pretend and the biggest sandcastle their beach had ever seen, courtesy of his mind-blowing ninjutsu.  
"My room, Sasuke-kun." She answered with a sigh, moving ahead to open the door for him.  
He followed her easily, shouldering through the door easily enough, knowing exactly where to step so that he would not trip and fall. He had a natural, cat-like grace about him, as a shinobi should.  
The walk seemed short enough with him carrying the box, and before she knew it, they were to the part of the hallway that housed both their rooms, one next to the other. She opened her door for him, the soft scent of a candle drifting immediately to both their noses. She sighed and stepped in, shuffling aside as he passed her and set the box in the floor next to her dresser, the kits safely asleep inside. He turned to look at her then, eyes sparkling with something like anticipation as he swiftly stepped forward, forcing her back onto her bed. He crossed his arms and lazily asked her, his voice filled with something like exasperated amusement.  
"What on earth are you going to do with three fox kits, Rinako-chan?"  
Everything from his voice to his stance immediately raised her hackles, making her defensive. "I was not about to just leave them to die, Sasuke-kun."  
He waved her off. "Yeah, I know. Little Rinako-hime could never leave some helpless baby animals to die after their mama died. Your dad told me. My question is this: What are you going to do with them when they're grown? When their instincts kick in and they start eying your mother's rabbits and chickens hungrily?"  
There he went, forever the realist. She blinked. She had not thought of that. Surely they could be tamed, the same as their many other animals. Besides, foxes were close cousins to dogs, were they not? "I think I can tame them." She said stubbornly.  
He shrugged. "Maybe you can, maybe you can't. First things first, I imagine we need to get them some food. I guess you probably want me to go to the grocery store with you and pick up some milk?"  
She was happy he let it go so easily. She did not want to argue. "Of course."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
When they returned from the grocery store, goat's milk in hand and medicine droppers stowed in their pockets, the kits were mewling loudly, and there was a noticeable lack of fathers and cats on this end of the house. She was carrying the milk, arguing loudly with Sasuke until he finally gave in and let her do it. She hated it when he treated her like she was helpless. Together they fed each kit, a messy affair with lots of towels and spilled milk and stained shirts. Finally each had eaten the amount prescribed by the veterinarian, whom they had managed to catch in the grocery store.  
Every three hours after that, they dropped what they were doing and repeated the whole thing. Each time it got more frustrating, as the medicine droppers confounded the tiny kits and more milk was spilled than eaten. But it worked, and none of the kits seemed to be in a bad state. By dawn, both of them were frizzy haired and had taken to sleeping in the living room till the alarm went off just to escape the tiny sounds of the restless kits. They slept so fitfully that one hour they were silent and the next they spent mewling for their mother.  
By dawn, both of them were exhausted, and Rinako's father took up the pledge to let them get some rest. Eager to escape the hustle of the house as her mother returned, Rinako got the bright idea of sleeping out on the beach. Sleeping rolls were hunted down and comfortable clothes thrown on, and then they were sprinting down the boardwalk, eager to escape the constant noise and seek comfort in the sound of the waves crashing and the salty air. Sasuke quickly got the upper hand, being much faster than her, but he slowed to her pace, and they jogged across the white sand down to their little place, down onto the sandbar that jutted out into the bay. It was lined with rocks that held tide pools and had always been their spot, and so they spread out their sleeping rolls and blinked the tiredness from their eyes long enough to greet the sunrise.  
He let her sit between his legs, back leaning against his chest as they both yawned widely and watched the sun come up over the sparkling bay. This was one of Sasuke's favorite parts about his yearly summer vacations in Sakyu-jo. They took comfort in this constant of sorts. The east would always be off to their left on this morning, the bay to the south, and the disappearing moon and stars off to their right. Soon the sky was dyed in pinks and oranges and reds, but her breaths were steady against his chest, and so he knew that it was over. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and gently shook her awake.  
"Rinako... Come on, you've fallen asleep." He helped her to her feet and then into her sleeping roll, arranging her long, inky black hair on her pillow. He slid into his own roll next to her, closing his eyes against the sunrise and turning his back to it, the same as she had. A certain peace washed over him, and then he fell into the endless world of sleep,


	2. 02 Kiss

It's dark out, but the street is brimming with light and music and motion. Everyone is hustling and bustling, laughing and talking, and children race between the narrow, fleeting spaces between people as they walk. Lights flash and snippets of sound reach her ears, and all of the madness fits so perfectly together that she takes a moment just to soak it in. Vendors call out their items. The people running their booths call out insistently, intent on attracting customers that will throw their money away on the games. Everyone knows that if one wins the game, it must be pure luck. Everyone still throws their money away on it.  
People wear masks and yukatas, and children walk past, giggling in their brilliantly patterned clothes with fans in hand and little goldfish swimming in bags on their wrists. The summer night is alive with people and sound and it's so lovely that it overwhelms her. She wears a brilliant smile and clings tightly to the arm of her escort, letting him lead her through the tightly-woven crowd out to the docks where the rides are. The Ferris wheel stands outlined against the dark, surrounded by smaller rides. She glances up at the man whose arm she clings so tightly to, tracing the outline of his face against the night sky with her eyes. '_He has a nice cheekbones,' _She notes.

He glances down at her and lets his lips quirk into a small smirk as he catches her staring, and she quickly diverts her eyes, blushing. Music plays from nowhere and everywhere at once, loudly blasting the latest popular music in the distance, and as one would approach each individual ride, the others would fade out and that one would fill their ears. It was strange, almost a different world. The docks did not seem so familiar as they did in the daytime, when fishermen covered them, selling their wares. There was something about this that gave her a nice feeling. The people that surrounded her were her own. People who had been around her for her whole life surged around them. Some were recognizable and some were not.

She broke out of her reverie as she noticed where he was taking her. There, on the far left of the dock was the smaller Ferris wheel, if one could call it that. It looked like a Ferris wheel, but instead of suspended buckets for people to sit in, there were egg-shaped baskets. The wheel was not three dimensional. It had one side that turned, and each of those baskets was attached to the side like balloons on a dart board. They spun as it went, rocking back and forth as the people inside them turned upside down and downside up and every which way. Just looking at it terrified her. She clung fast to his arm.

"Sasuke, no! I don't want to...!"

He glanced down at her quickly, eyes locking on her worried ones, a grin on his face. "Why, Rinako-hime? Scared? You promised me last year. Remember?"

She blinked up at him, biting her lip as she remembered it. She hadn't wanted to ride last year either, and had promised him to keep from being drug onto the death trap against her will. She hadn't worried about the future then. Well, now the future was upon her and it was time to live up to her promise. She swallowed nervously as he led her into the rather short queue for the ride, knowing that they would be on it soon enough. Panic rose in her throat and she clung tighter to his arm, closing her bright blue eyes against the harsh white lights that surrounded the outside of the Ferris wheel contraption she had now dubbed "The Death Trap."

They loaded people in pairs, one by one into the baskets, and the longer she waited the more panicked she was. She was feeling dizzy by the time it was their turn, and was clinging so tightly to his sleeve that her hands were white. She was forced to release him as they loaded one at a time into the basket, him herding her in with a grin. She sank into the seat and fumbled for her seat buckle, cheeks flushed and breaths harried. As soon as he was in beside her, she buried her face in his shoulder while they lowered the iron bar into their laps. The ride operator explained that the basket could be locked into place, but she didn't hear this through the haze in her head.

"Rinako-chan, I swear that it's going to be fine, okay? You'll have fun! If you shut your eyes it feels amazing."

Sasuke tried to comfort her, but she remained stubbornly hid in his shoulder, feeling the sickening lurch as the ride started to move. She didn't have time to panic, as they were the last ones on and the ride was starting. The basket swung back and forth as the wheel started to rotate, and she squeaked in a panicked manner. She felt his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close, but that didn't help. She swallowed and looked out, then regretted it as the wheel came to its apex and the basket swung back roughly. It made her stomach feel like it was floating, and as the wheel gained speed and their basket continued to rock, she couldn't decide if she wanted to scream or throw up. Still, she couldn't close her eyes, and looking at the boy laughing beside her would be a mistake. Her stomach was topsy-turvy enough without it flipping from his smile.

The first time the basket flipped, she screamed loudly, and then flushed brilliantly. Sasuke was peering at her from the corner of her eye, smiling so brightly. Her hands were glued to the seat, and her feet were pressed tight against the bottom of the basket, keeping her firmly in place as the basket continued to rock and occasionally flip. In fact, Sasuke was encouraging it, rocking his body with the motion of the ride as if just to tease her. She had decided she was not going to be sick by now, but the motion still had her heart in her throat. She could hear people in the other baskets, screaming and laughing. She managed to release the seat with one of her hands, flexing her fingers. They had been clutching it so hard that it was hard to move them. It moved to cling to his jacket as they flipped again.

She shrieked again, this time less for terror and a little more for joy. Sasuke was right; it was exhilarating once one got over the fact that they were being rotated at two different rates. She was still terrified, but it was less unpleasant and made her heart thump in an almost pleasant way. She settled into his side, still tense but now trying to enjoy herself as the ride slowed and their ridiculous flipping slowly stopped. They rocked back and forth as he began to unload, and Sasuke would have flipped it had she not clutched him so tightly, saying, "S-Sasuke-kun...! Give me a minute..."

Finally they unloaded, and she stumbled off, both supporting him and being supported. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement and bitten from the chill night wind, and her eyes sparkled as she regained her sense of balance. They wobbled away, steadying each other carefully. When she regained her senses, she broke from him quickly, flushing. As people parted around them, she found that she could only see heads and shoulders and stars above them, along with lights glimmering along the edges of her vision. This was a problem. That meant that her eyes were drawn to the known, which meant her best friend. She watched as he shook his hair out, pulling his toboggan more securely onto his head. His thick coat hid the lean muscles of his arms, but she knew they were there. Everything about him was trim and refined from hard work, missions, and training.

His work often kept him away from her and his second home. He still found time to come and see her, though. Like now, as he returned from a solo mission in a place that he had told her was confidential. He had left two and a half months ago after summer ended and she returned to school, but he still visited when he could. He had somehow returned in time for the yearly carnival this year. She expected he had planned it that way, but she could not prove it. Her mother and father always welcomed him back with open arms, and his presence was especially welcome around their home now that Hidari had decided to stay in Konohagakure and continue his education at their university.

His eyes met with hers and locked on them, onyx meeting sapphire with a spark of electricity arcing between. She felt her cheeks flush, as though they were not already red. She buried her nose in her scarf and hid them, her hands clenching and un-clenching as her eyes flitted away from his for a mere second only to return. Then he was stepping forward and taking her gloved hand in his, pulling her to him so that she could hear him over the roar of the crowd. "That wasn't so bad, was it? What do you want to do now?" He had to yell for her to hear him, and it sounded strange in his deep tone. He never raised his voice.

"No, it actually wasn't!" She beamed as she said this. "How about the actual Ferris wheel? We didn't get to ride last year because of Naruto-kun."

Sasuke's best friends from his home had come with him to visit last year, along with their teacher, Kakashi. Naruto had been so warm, excitable, and bubbly. He had filled their home with laughter and fun. Sakura had been like no one Rinako had been around. She was headstrong, fierce, proud, and like Naruto, full of loud laughter and energy. She had constantly been either getting onto Naruto for his silly mischief or joining him in it. She had seen a different side of Sasuke then, one that made her both smile and feel sad. He had seemed so happy with them, always smiling, whether it was small and hidden, or enjoying himself as Naruto made a fool of himself. He did not seem to hold the sadness he could have when he was with her sometimes. The way he interacted with them almost made her envious. He was so open, so easy with them, and always treated them as equals.

With her, Sasuke could be all of those things, but less often. He always sheltered her, taking care of her before himself. He also acted like he did not want to burden her with his feelings when sometimes all she wanted was for him to open up and tell her so that she could help. She would never tell him that, though. Theirs was a relationship that was easy as well as tense, at times. Still, with his brash and impatient friends, Sasuke had seemed more open, and that was something that Rinako had decided she wanted very much.

When his hand gently touched her back, guiding her towards the Ferris wheel, she snapped out of it. Her long hair was braided down her back to keep it from being tangled in the wind, and she could feel the gentle tug of his fingers as he ran them through the end tassel. Suddenly he was guiding her easily through the crowd, which she allowed. Sasuke had this way of needing to be in control and she had never contested him over it. She liked being guided, to an extent. Sometimes they argued over things which usually ended with her in tears.

The queue for the Ferris wheel moved fast and soon they were being locked into their bucket, side by side in the bench. The Ferris wheel towered over everything and as more people were loaded into the buckets, they found themselves higher and higher and higher above the ground. After a long while, the operator managed to fill all the seats and they moved forward with a lurch, quickly smoothing out into an easy pace that was just slow enough to be comfortable and just fast enough to be exciting. The stars, though hardly visible overhead from the lights, sparkled up above and the distant sound of waves ebbed as they rose higher and then grew as they swung down for the lower portion of the wheel. She giggled uncontrollably for a tiny second, exhilarated, the sound like bells. Then she realized what she had done and flushed red. She glanced sideways to see him giving her a small smile. He looked so satisfied with it all, and she couldn't help but to stare as they rose again. His hand took hers, pulling it into his lap where it stayed, caught and limp with shock in his.

Rinako was always taken by surprise. Her feelings were easily visible, and she was so completely genuine that anyone who knew her would know that she was someone completely unsoiled and innocent. Her ability to determine others' feelings was exceptional, but only when their feelings were focused on anyone other than herself. Her highly perceptive eyes were blind to the people who cared about her. When Sasuke leaned forward and said, "You're... really pretty when you laugh like that," she was so completely unaware of what he was insinuating that it would be laughable in the future. Still, she was enraptured by the way his lips moved when they were that close, even though that was not how a best friend thought of her best friend.

She flushed, "Th-Thank you, Sasuke-kun..." and tried to turn back to look at the lights, body still pressed intimately against his in the seat. It was not as though they had not had room. It just seemed natural to sit close to each other and share their warmth in the seat. Now the space felt like it meant something, and her stomach flopped the way it had on the Death Trap, but she had no idea why.

His hand was gloved, but it still felt cold as he gently cupped her chin and returned her gaze to his. Her lips parted to ask him, "What is it, Sasuke-kun?" but the words never came. Instead, she watched as his lips descended on hers and sealed themselves to her soft, pink ones. Her eyes immediately shut, her whole face heating up. _Sasuke is kissing me! _And he did not stop immediately, either. Her whole body was on fire as she waited, counting to herself the way she had heard that the girls at school did when a boy kissed them. Her mind was blank as to what else she should do. Her other hand fisted in his t-shirt, pushing him away gently. She doubted he even noticed. She got to four before the feeling of his lips on hers receded, and then she opened her eyes cautiously, still in shock.

His face was redder than she had ever seen it, and he looked hurt. "Didn't you want me to kiss you, Rinako?"

_Uh-oh. _He hardly ever called her just Rinako unless he was upset or angry with her.

"W-Wait! Sasuke-kun...! I- I mean... I d-did w-want you to kiss me..."

She was so embarrassed that she was unable to form a coherent thought, much less words. His eyes looked so hurt. Maybe he thought that he had misjudged her feelings for him, or maybe he had thought she wanted that kind of thing. Rinako did not know what she particularly wanted past this moment. She knew that right now she wanted him happy again, so she did the first thing that came to her mind. She grabbed his collar and pulled him forcefully back down to her, kissing him impulsively in that way only she could. Their lips molded together, his confused and hers determined, at first motionless and then moving oh-so hesitantly. She was fifteen years old and this was her first and second kiss, and she did not know if it was his or not, and at that moment she did not particularly care.

It seemed like forever, but if she had been counting she would have only gotten to seven. That's when the Ferris wheel gave that lurch and that deafening groan that meant it was now going to slow to a stop. They broke apart then, reddening immediately and turning away from each other to absorb what they had just done. She touched her lips with gentle, soft fingertips, the blush on her face more pink than red. Now she was floating on a cloud, and the hand that still grasped his tightened a little. She had just experienced her first and second kisses on a Ferris wheel, one hundred feet in the air, with her very best friend in the entire world. She had no idea what she should do, so she did nothing at all. Eventually they left the Ferris wheel behind and headed off the boardwalk and down to the beach for the midnight fireworks, and it was there that she lost count of how many kisses she had in that giddy, lovesick way that only teenagers can.


	3. 03 Soft

He wakes with a start, eyes blinking open hastily to blearily stare over her dark, inky hair into the sunlit garden. He has jumped in his sleep and startled her again, because he can feel her stirring beside him. The details of the nightmare are already fleeing his mind, and he concentrates to figure out why he has startled awake. There was something about a mission going sour, but he can't really remember much else.

It is bright, too bright, in the room, and the only sounds are their muffled grunts as they stretch and settle back into the covers. It is just past dawn, and the sun streams through the window, too bright for their tired eyes. He can see their clothes; they lie wrinkled and scattered all over the room where they hastily removed them the night before. She is bare as the day she was born next to him, her skin pressed deliciously close to his, and he feels himself stir at this thought. He suppresses it for the moment and trails his fingers down her side under the covers, tracing her bones through her skin and watching as she shivers and giggles under the covers. He can not see her yet, but he intends to amend that as soon as possible.

Her hipbones are easily found with his fingertips, and he trails them over and down her leg as far as he can. Her hand finds his beneath the concealing duvet, and they guide his up to her chest, past her breasts which tempt him so, and then to her lips where she presses a soft kiss to each of his knuckles.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." She murmurs in that sleepy way that she has, just as she does every "morning after."

He finds himself humoring her as he slinks farther under the covers to kiss along her collarbone.

"Mm, Good morning, Rinako-chan..." He trails off as he finds that spot on her neck that always gets her in the mood.

She squirms beside him and he finds that she is turning over to foil his plans, taking away his perfect kissing spot. But now he can see her, so he is satisfied. He feels her hands smoothing over his chest the way she always does, and he suppresses the urge to kiss her senseless. Instead, he occupies his hands with her shoulders, smoothing them over the soft contours of her arms. He can feel her small muscles beneath his own powerful hands. They have been built up from years of working outside in a garden. She is still fair though; she does not tan and instead burns quite easily.

His lips find hers as his hands find her breasts, and hers smooth over the muscled ridges of his lean shoulders to his back. The kiss is long and filled with building passion. It is still too early for either to give up the building sexual tension, so the kiss gives them some small form of release. Soon they are tangled together, alternatively kissing each others' lips and sometimes his jaw line or behind her ear. Eventually he sits back on the bed and she straddles him, and they continue this procession of kissing and fondling, building up the need inside them until it is a pan of water about to boil over.

The moment that their bodies join is, without a doubt, as though he is coming home. She is holding his hands for support as she sinks down on him, eyes shut tight as she concentrates. He hisses slightly, her tight heat surrounding him and overwhelming him for a moment, but not enough to make him lose it. Never that. They move together as one. She rises and sinks with deep, barely-controlled breaths and he meets her with a thrust and a deep, guttural noise that is part lust-filled grunt and part frustration. There comes a point where her legs give out and she sinks down on him, sheathing him somewhat deeper inside of her than before. He exhales, his breath hissing out as he sits up on his elbow and uses his spare hand to smooth down her side. Her hair tangles in his fingers and he combs it gently through. Then he sits up and gently guides her onto his back in the massive pile of pillows she keeps at the head of the bed.

Their bodies join again and it is not long before they give out, sinking into ecstasy together as quietly as possible, ever-mindful of the child in the room across the hall. They fall into sleep again until her knock on the door awakens them an hour later. This time he dresses hurriedly, stealing secret glances at her that are filled with the promise of their next moment alone and the next time he will feel her soft skin against his.


	4. 04 Pain

There was something in a rain-soaked day during the winter. Maybe it was the sound of the drops hitting their roof, or maybe it was just that everyone was usually cooped up indoors. Either way, Rinako loved rainy days. She spent them curled up with a good book in bed or in the sun-room, listening to gentle music and the sounds of the rain hitting the windows. Her old doll-house could be found in that room and sometimes she even occupied herself with it.

Sasuke could often be found nearby on these days as well, though he was usually around her anyway. His habitually close presence comforted her a great deal. Sometimes they spent their time on one of the lounge chairs in the great room, stealing kisses when her mother and father popped out of the room for a while. They were peaceful days, even though they stole time she _could_ be out in the garden away from her. Umi, Sora, and Tochi could often be found lying knit together in a little ball of fur by the fireplace, warming themselves after a good run in the rain. The fox kits were growing too fast for Rinako's tastes, though they still filled the house with mischief and laughter.

It was during this time that they began experimenting around, trying to find what the other liked while also trying to find their own preferences. It was awkward and fumbling and altogether messy, but it was enjoyable and she would prefer nothing else. There was something rewarding in fumbling around, hands exploring where eyes could not yet see. His skin was always warm to the touch, heating her cool hands as she slid them over the smooth muscles of his chest and the contours of his toned body. Sometimes she slid her hands under the fabric of his shirt and let skin meet skin, but most of the time her hands stayed innocent. His, however, enjoyed a little more traveling than hers. The callouses on his palms chafed against the soft skin that lay under her clothing and did things to her nerves that she did not understand.

They often quarreled over how far was too far, and she often ended up losing those arguments. He could easily tempt her into the unknown as his hands slid under the strap of her bra or below the waistline of her pants. She would shiver and kiss him more deeply, hand gently sliding over his both to restrain him and to urge him to go farther. It was a delicate balancing game between the daring and the stupid. She often found her arms pinned to her side as he hungrily plundered her mouth. It was not just these peacefully heart-racing moments that got to her, but also the stolen ones in the hallway when the slightest movement of her hair or unintentional sway of her skinny hips earned her a quick, searing kiss in which her back met the wall most unfortunately. Her favorite of these moments were when her wrists were caught almost helplessly in his grip.

Sasuke was not a forceful person. He would not do these things if she did not like them, but like them she did. He did not need to exert his control over her because she usually submitted to him quite easily. She had told him that she enjoyed the moments when they got out of control. Those seconds where, for a moment, they both wanted the exact same thing and they did not care who saw them trying to get it. The thought of it lit a fire within her that she had a hard time containing, and more often than not she found her cheeks lighting up brilliantly as a way to let off some of that built-up attraction. She could not take charge like that herself, at least not in that way. She showed her own desire by pulling his sleeve or shirt collar until he bent to meet her half way, then kissing him until she needed so badly to breathe that she broke from him gasping. There was no shame in it for her so long as it was just them.

They were not a public couple. When they did these things, it would be to an empty room and hopefully an empty house. They could hardly bring themselves to hold hands in public, let alone kiss or more. He was not shy like she was, but he was a private person and did not appreciate an audience. Their relationship was between them and not the business of people in the village, especially not people like the little old granny that ran the supermarket and loved to tease them relentlessly.

All these things presented themselves to her now as she lay on her bed buried in pillows and covers and stuffed animals, all in a tangled mess. Tissues lay scattered among the mess, though most seemed to be in the tiny, overflowing waste basket. Her door was locked tight and had been against his insistent knocking for the entire morning. It was another of their rainy days.

She had not meant to do it.

Maybe she'd never have to leave her room again.

His kissing had been insistent and playful, she in her pajamas and he in his boxers and tee shirt, just as they were every morning. His hair had been rumpled and his pale cheeks were just the right color. She thought, as she was working on some toast, that he was so handsome like that, standing over the eggs as he scrambled them. Breakfast was a team effort when her parents were out of the house, and so were the dishes. Her nose was failing her from a combination of sinuses and a possible oncoming cold, so she could not smell the cooking food. Nevertheless, her stomach rumbled in anticipation as they set the table. He must have heard it too, because he kept sneaking amused smirks at her over his shoulder. She promptly stuck her tongue out at him for the spite of the thing.

She did not feel bad as she finished her breakfast. She did not even feel bad later, when they were alternatively kissing and washing and putting away the dishes. It was when they sat down in the living room and settled into the couch for a movie that she encountered the bad. She picked some movie about a dog and a cat and a grand adventure and was getting comfortable and warm when she felt it. The yank in her stomach. The familiar pull of a cramp curling inside her. She was not about to jump up and run for the bathroom out of the blue; that would immediately alert him that something was wrong. No, she sat through the entire movie, tense as she could be. Only when it was finished did she rise, ready to escape.

But by then she had bled through her white pajamas. When she looked back at him, his face was red and turned in the general direction that was anything but her.

"Rinako..."

_Crap._


End file.
